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The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 1 of 6

Product MRP and work scheduling views

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Before a bill of material or a routing matters, the product itself has to be set up to be planned and produced. In SAP S/4HANA that setup lives in the plant-level views of the product master: MRP 1 to MRP 4 and Work Scheduling. Get these wrong and MRP either plans nothing, plans the wrong way, or schedules orders that can never finish on time.

Contoso Motor Co. maintains CMC-ALT-100 (alternator) and CMC-RTR-200 (rotor) in plant 1710 Detroit. Every setting in this lesson is per plant: the same alternator in plant 1720 Chicago can have different values, and often should.

The product is defined once, but its planning and scheduling settings live per plant, so CMC-ALT-100 in 1710 and 1720 can and should differ.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-pp-201
MRP 1MRP type (for example PD for deterministic MRP), MRP controller, lot-sizing procedure, minimum and maximum lot size, rounding
MRP 2Procurement type (E, F, X), special procurement, in-house production time, planned delivery time, goods receipt processing time, safety stock
MRP 3Strategy group, consumption mode and periods, availability check group
MRP 4Individual or collective requirements, access to the product's production versions
Work SchedulingProduction supervisor, production scheduling profile, lot-size-dependent in-house production times
Where the planning and production settings sit for one product in one plant. Field placement is the SAP standard layout; projects can rearrange screens.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-pp-201

The settings that decide what MRP does

FieldEffectCMC-ALT-100 in 1710CMC-RTR-200 in 1710
MRP typeWhether and how the product is plannedPD (MRP)PD (MRP)
MRP controllerWho is responsible; filters planner apps101 (Detroit final assembly)102 (Detroit components)
Lot-sizing procedureHow much each proposal coversEX lot-for-lotFixed lot of 500
Procurement typeMake or buyE in-houseF external
In-house production time / planned delivery timeLead time for scheduling3 workdays10 days from Lakeside Components
GR processing timeTime to inspect and put away after receipt1 workday1 workday
Safety stockBuffer MRP protects50 pc200 pc
Strategy groupPlanning strategy (MTS, MTO and so on)40 planning with final assemblyNot used (component)

Contoso's planning settings for its two core products. Values are illustrative for training.

The MRP type is the master switch. PD means deterministic MRP: plan exactly against requirements. Consumption-based types such as reorder-point planning suit cheap, steady parts. A product with MRP type ND is not planned at all, which is right for a few items and a silent disaster for a finished product.

The procurement type decides whether MRP proposes a planned order (E) or a purchase requisition (F). Special procurement keys add variants such as stock transfer from another plant or subcontracting. The lead times then decide the dates: SAP Learning describes backward scheduling that subtracts the in-house production time from the requirement date to find the start date, and the goods receipt processing time that covers inspection and put-away.

MRP type decides whether a product is planned at all; procurement type then decides whether the proposal is a planned order or a purchase requisition.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-pp-201

Work scheduling

The Work Scheduling view is read when production orders are created and executed. The production scheduling profile can control automatic actions, such as releasing an order on creation or posting the goods receipt with the final confirmation. In-house production time can be maintained here split into setup, processing and interoperation times that depend on lot size, which is more accurate than one flat number for products made in very different quantities.

  1. Day 0Order startBackward scheduled: requirement date minus GR processing time minus in-house production time
  2. Days 1–3ProductionThree workdays of in-house production time
  3. Day 3Order finishFinished alternators reported
  4. Day 4AvailableOne workday of goods receipt processing, then available for the requirement
Basic date scheduling for an alternator planned order. Lead-time scheduling with the routing gives more precise dates.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-pp-201

What would you do?

Planned orders for CMC-ALT-100 in plant 1720 always start in the past, although demand is weeks away. What do you check first?

In SAP S/4HANA the product master is maintained with MM01 to MM03 or the Fiori Manage Product Master Data app; in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition only the Fiori apps exist. Field names are the same, so the checks in this lesson work in either.

Key points
  • MRP 1–4 and Work Scheduling are plant-level views; maintain them per plant.
  • MRP type is the master switch; procurement type decides make or buy.
  • Lead times (in-house production, planned delivery, GR processing) decide proposal dates.
  • Strategy group in MRP 3 selects the planning strategy; the production scheduling profile automates order steps.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. Which view holds the procurement type and the in-house production time in the standard layout?

  2. 2. What does MRP type ND mean for a product?

  3. 3. Where is the strategy group for CMC-ALT-100 maintained?

  4. 4. What can the production scheduling profile automate?